The present invention relates to a bed, in particular a hospital bed, which is fitted along at least one of its two longitudinal sides with a plurality of adjacent individual barrier elements, each extending over a fraction of the length of the bed.
The term “hospital bed” is used to mean any bed fitted with optionally power driven means that enable assistance to be given to a person lying in the bed.
At present, nearly all such beds are fitted with at least one retractable longitudinal barrier having the function of preventing the patient from falling out of bed while unattended.
Such barriers have the characteristic of extending along the entire length of the bed in the raised position and in the lowered position, such that they are of no help to a person seeking to move from a prone position to a sitting position. Such a person often seeks a support point for making the movement easier. That type of barrier, which can be referred to as “full”, provides no help under such circumstances.
Another drawback of such barriers is psychological in nature, based on the fact that they give the bed a “cage” appearance which is no help in making a patient feel at ease.
Those problems have been solved in part by proposing to fit beds with barriers that are independent of one another, each extending over a fraction of the length of the bed. In order to distinguish such barriers from full barriers, they are referred to below as barrier “elements”.
Thus, two distinct barrier elements extend along either side of the bed, with the gap between them being large enough to allow the patient to take up a sitting position. An example of that state of the art is shown in document U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,768.
Each element may be secured to the bed plane that receives the mattress, even when the bed plane comprises a plurality of portions, at least one of which can be moved into a position other than horizontal.
When the patient is in the prone position and the elements are in the raised position, the elements prevent the patient from falling out of bed unless the patient manages to position the torso between the two elements.
Safety regulations require the spacing between the elements to be less than 60 millimeters (mm) or greater than 235 mm, whatever their relative position. This means, for example, that when an element is secured to a portion of the bed plane, said portion being in a raised position, then the spacing between said elements and the second element must still comply with the values specified above.
In spite of that, there remains some risk of accident, particularly when a patient in a sitting position between the elements falls. The patient's torso can then become wedged between the elements.
In addition, each of the two barrier elements requires its own mechanism for fixing to the bed, together with a mechanism for retracting it beneath the bed plane. It will readily be understood that this increase in mechanical parts increases the cost price of the bed and makes the structure and the operation of the bed more complicated.
An object of the present invention is to mitigate those drawbacks.
More precisely, a particular object is to provide a bed having individual barrier elements, the bed presenting the advantages associated with such elements and also with traditional full barriers, without presenting the drawbacks.
In other words, the object of the invention is to provide a bed whose barrier system can be used equally well as an individual barrier element and as a full barrier.
The invention seeks to provide a bed which can be used without risk of accident, and in particular without risk of the fingers or the limbs becoming pinched or trapped between moving parts.
In conventional manner, this bed, in particular a hospital bed, is fitted with a plurality of adjacent individual barrier elements along at least one of its longitudinal sides, the barrier elements extending vertically and each occupying a fraction of the length of the bed.
According to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a patient support includes a base structure including a longitudinal side, a first barrier element including a first portion, and a second barrier element including a second portion. The first and second barrier elements are positioned along the longitudinal side of the base structure. The barriers are adapted to move between raised and lowered positions. Each of the first and second barrier elements occupies a fraction of the length of the patient support. The barriers are positioned such that the first portion and the second portion overlap when both the first barrier element and second barrier element are in the raised position.
According to another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a patient support includes a frame, a deck, a head end barrier element, and a foot end barrier element. The frame includes a head end, a foot end, and longitudinal sides. The deck is coupled to the frame and includes at least a head section and a seat section. The head end barrier element is positioned along at least one of the longitudinal sides of the frame near the head end. The head end barrier includes a first portion. The foot end barrier element is positioned along at least one of the longitudinal sides near the foot end. The foot end barrier element includes a second portion. The first portion and the second portion overlap allowing the foot end barrier element and the head end barrier element to extend substantially the entire length of the patient support.
According to yet another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a patient support includes a frame, an articulating deck, a first siderail, and a second siderail. The frame includes a head end, a foot end, and longitudinal sides. The articulating deck is supported by the frame. The deck includes a head section and a foot section. The head section is moveable relative to the foot section. The first siderail is positioned along one of the longitudinal sides. The second siderail is positioned adjacent the first siderail. The second siderail includes a first portion positioned between the first siderail and the second siderail where the first siderail overlaps the second siderail. At least one of the first and second siderails moves with the head section during articulation of the deck.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrated embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.